Pint-sized Pour: Double Jack

This double IPA is more than the sum of its doubled parts

Doubling up: Firestone Walker’s Union Jack wins national awards, but this Central Coast IPA just isn’t as bold as our local brews. Double Jack, though, takes the same recipe and adds more hops, malts and alcohol to create an imperial IPA. While San Diego brewers make those, too, Jack’s reinterpretation can hold its own with any rival.

Quaffable: As you’d expect from a double IPA, this beer has more — but not too much. Double Jack’s body is in the middling range. The aroma carries hints of pine and lemon. The flavors are well-defined, smacking of butterscotch, crisp red Julian apples and honeyed grapefruit.

All that booze: Higher alcohol beers often look show-offy, or an excuse for beer lovers to get blasted. Here, though, the 9.5 percent alcohol transforms Jack’s personality. Union J. is aggressive, sharp, quick. Double J. has a prickly side, thanks to its six hops, but it’s also sweet, contemplative and, in the long finish, smooth.